October 30, 2009

For Better Or For Worse

I find that no two photo shoots are exactly the same. Each one brings its own set of challenges, which could be related to weather, lighting conditions or other attendees' dispositions. Heck, even my own state of mind can be a roadblock to getting the best out of any shoot.

For these reasons, yesterday evening's Circuit Gallery Launch at The Department was somewhat difficult.* For instance, when I first arrived, I was pleased that I'd be able to bounce my flash, especially after dealing with the high roofs at Thrill The World Toronto. However, even with the use of this technique, I still wasn't satisfied with all of my results. To make a long story short, I dealt with pitfalls such as overexposure, underexposure and a yellowish hue which really ticked me off (it was probably due to the gallery's lighting). In hopes of alleviating my problems, I kept fiddling with different settings in my camera and speedlight, but this was useless in the long run.

My own state of mind didn't help matters much. Due to the aforementioned issues, my confidence took a bit of a hit yesterday evening. A few of the photos displayed at the reception caused me to reflect on my own lack of gear - specifically, a tripod. One of these photos has a perfectly stacked set of plates; a tripod was obviously used. Photoshop Elements is able to straighten photos, but there's something to be said about getting things right before the shutter button is hit.

Thirdly, despite the fact that I met a few very genial people, one person particularly left a lot to be desired. At one point, I decided to leave a cracker sticking out of my mouth in order to lighten things up. Almost immediately after doing that, I noticed one lady in front of me motioning her hand toward her mouth, as if to push something in it. It turned out that she was telling me to put my cracker in my mouth and eat it. Since I didn't appreciate her snooty gesture, I immediately deleted my photos of her shoes.

Rule number one of public conduct: don't piss off the photographer, especially if he has a blog.

As I journeyed home from the shoot, I entertained thoughts of going back to the relative stability of a desk job, despite the progress I've made since starting this blog. However, before I arrived at my apartment, I started reflecting on this fact: when two people are romantically involved, one may not always feel like doing what is best for the other. Even so, responsibilities are not based on feelings; like it or not, mutual benefit must be achieved or the relationship will die.

Of course, since I'm inexperienced in this topic, perhaps I should leave it alone. :-)

I said that to say this: one less-than-ideal shoot isn't going to stop me from reaching my ultimate goal: to break into the photography industry and make a stable living while doing so.

*To Zach, Susana and Claire: I don't hold any of you responsible for anything that happened yesterday.